a blog for decent people to learn and discuss the real news and promote a better world

Economy

I have featured Mike Figueredo before to share his many spot-on insights and carefully gathered facts. He recently released a record length video compilation, over three hours long (and full of good stuff), a length that many of us can probably only handle on a weekend, except for those set up to listen to his podcasts while commuting.

Hence this part 2 of my video weekend post dedicated to Mike’s “Humanist Report.” To make it easier to handle, I have written up a timeline so you can more easily watch it in parts. The timeline is posted in the “Continue reading…” section below the video:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Hillary Clinton and Her Minions Seek Vengeance on America | Episode 110 “)

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Once again, a collection of fine videos to brighten your weekend with enlightenment and fuel for our political revolution:

I.Jimmy Dore and Lee Camp together. A fine duo. Unfortunately, I felt they had both made the same statements before, and better, when they did them alone and better prepared. Still, I like what comes up 14:20 minutes into this clip (asking why you would donate to the “Democratic Party” when its primaries are rigged by its own admission!). The talk then moves to the topic of our rigged debates keeping out third parties… handcuffing presidential candidates to keep them away from the rigged debates… and record climate events in the past two months. Later Lee Camp, talking about Bannon, reveals how our corporate media lift up right-wingers by allowing only THEM to criticize corruption even though they are part of it):

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Jimmy Dore On The Corporate State And The Power Of The Petrodollar “)

II.
Political wrangling surrounding Bernie’s Medicare for All bill:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Some Democrats Are Pretending Bernie’s ‘Medicare for All’ Bill Doesn’t Exist “)

III.
The usual lies about healthcare costs and single-payer:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Aetna CEO is Scared To Death of Single-Payer”)

Debunking one of the biggest lies: No, single-payer coverage such as Medicare for All is not single-provider healthcare, meaning a government-run healthcare, but merely a government-secured payment system. So, you can pick and choose your doctors as before, except this time their will be no question whether or not you can pay. It is simply our government doing its sworn duty to look out for its citizens.

IV.
Cha-Ching:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Obama Enriches Self With Back Room Oil Deal”)

V.
We have a responsibility not only for ourselves to fix our country:

Various revelations about our country’s dark history. Also: an interesting and creepy revelation from former war correspondent Chris Hedges. He explains how the despotic regime in a foreign country went through the same motions as our southern states with their glorification of the Confederation: basically, when people are getting desperate over their worsening lives, give them a myth to feel good about, the better to control them. In our case, that myth would be the ‘noble heroism’ of our civil war’s slavery defenders, building up a white-against-black and south-against-north mentality that keeps us from uniting against the blood-sucking establishment controlling and exploiting us from above. The more divided we are, the better controlled from the top we are.

VI.
An older but very nice conversation:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Cornel West and Richard Wolff talk about Capitalism and White Supremacy”)

How much better off are freed slaves when they become enslaved by a wage slavery system? When one king of a company can hire and fire you, abuse you, rip you off and make you lick his boots – and every alternative job is just as bad – it is anathema to democracy!

VII.
Nice historic review of the last century of our economy and politics – the New Deal and its repeal:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Full Show 11/11/15: How Reaganomics Killed America’s Middle Class”)

Conclusion: we can’t keep a golden age after getting it, if we don’t topple the plutocrats who will roll back everything to resume their godlike status among a sea of serfs. The pendulum will always swing back to the dark side if we do nothing to lock it in place.

VIII.
And not to forget: the environment we depend on. One thing apparently forgotten in this conversation was the great danger that lies in our getting the permafrost soil to melt, releasing huge amounts of methane, which is a far worse greenhouse gas than CO2. Basically, we are terraforming ourselves off this planet:

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Of course you have heard the profuse allegations of Trump’s white supremacy links in connection with his pardon of Joe Arpaio, the Texas sheriff found guilty, among other things, of racial profiling — a shocker that came right after Trump defended the murderer of Charlottesville by blaming both sides: the violent supremacists and the peaceful protesters. We sure heard a lot of pumped-up outrage about it. But, honestly, both Trump’s flirting with white supremacists and the attempt of his political opponents to turn it to their political advantage, are nothing new. I’d never bother to write a whole article about them. The deeper meanings and connections I am going to share with you today, however, might be new to you and of much greater significance than the pardoning of one bad guy. There is indeed a lot more here than meets the eye. So, keep reading… Continue reading →

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No need, this weekend, to slump and sink into the corporate media’s dementing morass. Here are six enlightening videos about our man-made nightmare world and ways to fix it. And to finish on a high note, number seven is a recording of some simple, harmless fun for a change. I hope you won’t mind. It reminds me of younger, more innocent times in my life, or the kind of life we could live if we didn’t have to struggle for survival so much in a world where natural scarcity has been overcome and replaced with man-made poverty, exclusion, and despair.

I. A Living Minimum Wage

Quite possible. Simply a policy choice:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Australian McDonalds Workers Paid Like No Worker In America Ever Has”)

This video nicely echoes things I keep saying: Low economic stress drives a lot of negative behavior. There are a lot of selfish reasons to want your fellow Americans to do well. You can do things for other people out of self interest.

Quote: “So many Americans have been bamboozled by the billionaires.”

II. Patronage instead of Democracy

The big business of raking in and skimming off political donations:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “DNC Having Trouble Fundraising—Nomiki Explains”)

III. Kick the Liars

An Example of Not Letting Lying Excuses Pass:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Campaign to Recall Californian Democrat that Blocked Single-Payer Underway”)

Let’s hope the recall works, and every other recall and ousting we must relentlessly attempt until we whittle the corrupt political establishment down.

IV. The GOP’s Christian Right

Ever wondered about the Christian Right which played such a big role in the GOP even as the GOP was hurting American workers, steamrollering over our Constitution, spreading war in the Middle East, abducting and torturing people, trying to dismantle Social Security and so on? Certain money barons in the GOP certainly partnered up with “Christian” leaders and took advantage of a unifying force which would let them betray the people to the corporations and billionaire class with impunity while their party base and voters were distracted over ancient Biblical bullying mandates and their modern resurrection, just like neoliberals in the “Democratic” Party were distracting us with minority protection issues (which, while valid, still distract us from the higher priorities — and which were going hand-in-hand with the GOP’s Christian Right trickery, by the way, like both parties were harmoniously working together for our robber billionaires — gee, were they?)? Well here is an interesting video talk about the other end of the equation:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Ex-Producer Reveals the truth about Pat Robertson”)

V. Grass Roots VS King Money

Ways for regular folks to deflate the iron rule of Money:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “D@W-LA: Nancy Berlin of Arroyo S.E.C.O.”)

VI. Manufacturing Terrorism: The Taliban

People rarely turn to extremism without reason or a little help:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Fact: Taliban Has Surrendered Multiple Times – US Rebuffed Them”)

VII. Some Harmless Fun to Finish With

Since I serve up so much depressing or exhausting news, how about a little, harmless snippet of fun to finish with for a change (and show us what a happy future world could look like):

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “The Funniest Table Tennis Match in HISTORY”)

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There is a meme-pic on mematic.net, picturing America’s 34th president, Dwight D. Eisenhower, during whose term our corporate tax rate was the highest ever (90%!). It explains that tax rate quite logically as follows:

Corporate Tax Rate: 90%

Why? Because high corporate tax rates create incentive for big business to spend earnings and expand (i.e. new locations, new hires, new equipment, and product R&D) which are deducted from taxable earnings, thus driving reported wealth into a lower tax bracket. Better to spend a majority of earnings on expansion than to horde it and pay Uncle Sam 90% of it. It’s not Communism, it’s responsible economics.

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So, why is our stock market at an all-time high but our real economy — the one that’s about earning our living expenses — is still down? In a speech held at the Commonwealth Club, a speech which makes for a fitting follow-up to last Friday’s article and videos, Robert Reich explained it beautifully: income inequality makes us poor and the corporations rich. The corporations then buy back their stocks thus driving up stock prices which makes them, and the stock market, look good. The Fed meanwhile tries to boost the economy by keeping interests low, but our government’s austerity policies make the economy like a wet noodle the Fed is trying to push on. When government cuts spending and corporations just borrow money to artificially drive up their stocks, we get no economic revival. Well explained, indeed! In essence, our booming stock market is fake. It’s just another market bubble. Continue reading →

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Welcome to yet another video weekend courtesy of this blog. No need to go bankrupt in your nearest cinema or lose much time searching for videos which grow you as a person rather than dumbing you down like so much of the corporate entertainment does. Have some laughs, shed some tears, and learn how to fight our rigged system while you relax, maybe with friends and family, watching these videos. Be sure to share them.

The first video (from the The Jimmy Dore Show) covers a variety of topics: Brexit, solidarity, presidential power and failure to use it — doom of journalism and the hubris and lack of concern and sympathy among the privileged and sheltered lucky ones in a profession that is falling apart — the awful mentality of the establishment’s henchmen and handmaidens such as those self-satified shills in the corporate media — how Obama became a sell-out instead of a hero — and Kamala Harris’ corruption:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for “Moyers & Company” and the title: “Obama’s Three Biggest Failures – Not What You Think”)

Death to master-thieves in other countries. Elevation to pharaoh status in ours. Wait… didn’t we make war on this very same overseas government once?

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for “Moyers & Company” and the title: “3 Criminal Bankers Sentenced To DEATH!”)

No kidding, but even the spare time activity of golf is part of the establishment’s schemes against us now! — Private elite universities also leech off us even as we ourselves can no longer afford basic college. — Our national price-gouging and political bribing by Big Pharma is a big problem and we are forbidden to buy medication from cheaper places, even as our blood-sucking drug companies themselves are permitted to do what we are not: to buy cheaper Canadian drugs. And after they buy them cheap, as we are not allowed to, they get to sell them to us at a steep markup to pad their wallets, all watched over by our FDA for drug safety, of course. The latter means that all this quacking and clucking about safety risks when buying medicine from Canada is nothing but a baldfaced lie. — Our low taxes on corporations are only high in theory but quite low in practice (and, yet, our biggest corporations evade them anyway). — Researchers are being bought by corporations just like politicians are (global warming denial anyone?). — Scapegoating of immigrants is an old game of pulling the wool over our eyes. — Last but not least, taxing should happen where the money is, not where it’s lacking:

Hmm… the rich person I once intimately knew sure enough spent much of her time in this iconic rich people’s pastime.

Richard Wolff quote: “… profit grabbing… using the power of your business to control the politics to give you yet another benefit on top of all of those you’ve purchased before.”

Have you wondered how our oligarchs report low unemployment to celebrate our nation and its “recovery” from the last stock market crash when our economy declines and sucks in reality? You simply don’t count unemployed people who have given up looking for jobs they know are not there; and you count people pushed into poverty as employment success when the growing number of working poor in an economy which increasingly squeezes us to our limits reflects the disappearing middle class. You can now find the conditions of poor, low-wage China right here in the U.S.:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for “Moyers & Company” and the title: “Unemployment – Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics – Richard Wolff”)

Conclusion: We have a working class out of work (with some of us not completely out of work but underemployed and underpaid, so maybe not out of work, but out of life). Any wonder that our economy sucks?

Somehow I felt like sharing this one (with no further comment)… It kind of fits in with all that I-don’t-care-about-others-thinking which has poisoned our society, killing the solidarity we need to stand up for our rights, and which defines our establishment:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for “Moyers & Company” and the title: “Don’t judge people you don’t know ( you will cry after watching )”)

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Today’s piece holds a lot of critical thoughts about our faulty economy and politics. It analyses the economic faults we need to fix. I thought I shared the below excellent Bill Moyers interview of Robert Reich before, but I can’t find this earlier share. So, maybe I didn’t. Anyway, this is a good interview to watch (and discuss) about the topic of our flawed economy, even if I may have shared it earlier, say on a Video Weekend. Here is the video clip itself plus a bit of meaningful commentary I just wrote, followed by Reich’s 2013 documentary film and some more commentary distilling and digesting the most important points he makes:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for “Moyers & Company” and the title: “Inequality for All”)

Robert Reich reminds us of the old idea of upward mobility rewarding guts and gumption. It’s a traditional concept for excusing and edifying our socio-economic system, the idea of a meritocracy. Not only have we fallen far behind other countries (like European countries) in this rags-to-riches story, as Robert Reich reminds us in this interview, but I also feel that there is something else wrong with it: namely, in my opinion, this philosophy of everything being just fine when upward mobility exists, warps society towards greed and socially irresponsible callousness. It warps it in favor of greedy, materialistic people, especially those who have absolutely no concern for others (or very lightly put such concerns aside) and will do anything – even destroy livelihoods and kill people with abandon – in order to rise in wealth. I am completely in agreement with Pope Francis when he deplores our societies’ loss of human values in the wake of making everything to be just about money. Continue reading →

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For sane people, the Charlottesville Murder was either a psy-ops trick or a lunatic’s egress of identity politics with which we, the 99%, are constantly divided from above to stop us from rising up to fix our country so it becomes a good place for everyone. The brutish and idiotic murder cannot be justly explained any other way. Wage slaves hating on each other over superficial stuff like skin color is simply not justifiable as a sane act. Rather, it is the mark of being manipulated from above. And when Steve Grumbine rants about people being too lazy to try and understand economics, he is simply pointing at the elephant in the room so many of us fail to see: the origin of Money in Politics. We all realize that Money in Politics is what turns our own government against us, instead of it serving us, as it is supposed to. Many of us realize that Money in Politics turns our economy against us. But the thing, that too many people still are “too lazy” (or to afraid) to do, is to follow the money and realize that it is our flawed economic system itself that creates the concentration of Big Money (in a few privileged hands) which then gives rise to Money in Politics in the first place. It’s a vicious circle, one part of which too many of us still don’t see.